The Center partners with local community organizations to showcase Asian-American history and to give back to the community

(www.westfield.com)

Arcadia, CA – Westfield Santa Anita, the premier shopping center in the San Gabriel Valley, is ringing in Lunar New Year by hosting its second annual festival to celebrate the Year of the Horse. The event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on The Promenade. This year, Westfield Santa Anita invited partners such as the Chinese American Museum (CAM) and the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) to participate in festivities surrounding Lunar New Year to further create meaningful engagement for Asian-American customers.

With the success of its inaugural Lunar New Year celebration last year, Westfield Santa Anita aims to make this year’s event bigger and better. The festival on Feb. 15 will not only include live performances, fortune tellers, Chinese calligraphy demonstrations, student art displays and children’s crafts tables, but will also feature a life-sized traditional Chinese dice game where participants can win prizes from various Westfield retailers. Food and refreshments from some of the most popular food trucks will also be available at the event.

“We saw how much our customers loved our Lunar New Year event last year, and we wanted to build on that to make it an even greater celebration this year,” said Steve Jaffe, District Marketing Manager for Westfield Santa Anita. “The goal of our Lunar New Year celebration for this year, and beyond, is to continue to bring the community together at Westfield Santa Anita.”

This year’s Lunar New Year décor at the Center features a 10-foot gold horse statue, created in partnership with Santa Anita Park, to represent the Year of the Horse and Santa Anita’s legacy in horseracing. Westfield Santa Anita is also bringing back its 120-foot dragon and Chinese pagoda that were displayed last year.

Additionally, in line with Lunar New Year-themed displays, Westfield Santa Anita is providing CAM with exclusive space inside the Center to bring a part of the museum to Westfield customers. The artifacts, which will be on display in the mall’s Center Court for a limited time, will showcase traditional items used by Chinese Americans in Los Angeles to celebrate the holiday, including lion dance costumes, festival head pieces and costume masks.

“The Chinese American Museum is excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2014 with Westfield Santa Anita,” said Steve Wong, Executive Director of CAM. “The artifacts on display are only a small sampling of over 7,500 artifacts housed at the Chinese American Museum at El Pueblo Historic Monument, in downtown Los Angeles.”

In the spirit of giving back to the community during the Lunar New Year, Westfield Santa Anita is also showcasing a Wishing Tree to raise funds for APCF, a network of nonprofit organizations that provide linguistically appropriate and culturally relevant programs and services to those in need. The Wishing Tree is sponsored by First General Bank, and those who make a donation to APCF will be able to hang their good “wishes” for the new year on the tree.

“Giving back to the community is an important part of First General Bank’s culture,” said Cliff Hsu, CEO of First General Bank. “Our dollar for dollar match up to $5,000 in donation to APCF through the Wishing Tree is a small step to raise awareness about what the community can do together to help those in need.”

“We are excited about this inaugural partnership with Westfield Santa Anita and for the generosity of First General Bank,” added Debra Fong, Executive Director of APCF. “We are thankful for this opportunity that while we celebrate the Lunar New Year we can give generously and make a difference in our community.”

“We know how much Lunar New Year means to the diverse communities surrounding our Center, so we engaged our partners like the Chinese American Museum, the Asian Pacific Community Fund and Santa Anita Park to ring in the Year of the Horse with us and to set the tone for an exciting, healthy and prosperous 2014,” said Jaffe.

The Westfield Santa Anita Lunar New Year event will take place on Feb. 15, 2014, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on The Promenade located at 400 S. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia. The event is free and open to the public.